An Army of Red
by TurquoiseWonders
Summary: When the second Great Prophecy was completed, everyone thought it would all calm down. And it did. But now, another threat seems to be gaining power. Except this time, that threat is targeting mortals.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series, or anybody in it. But I totally wish I did ;) Rick Riordan is such a genius...**

_"She's special. And you can't pretend that she's just a regular half-blood among a sea of others."_

_"Ever since Percy Jackson made that deal with the gods, half-bloods have been flooding in like crazy! How do you know she's not just another one of them? After all, after the second Great Prophecy was completed, the Oracle hasn't made anymore new predictions."_

_"Maybe she hasn't. But maybe the enemy has been gaining power this entire time, and that girl is the only one that can stop it."_

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"Aria Hampton, if you don't get out of bed right now you are never going to another of your friends parties ever aga – "

"I'm coming!" I groaned, staring at the ceiling of my rather small bedroom. My body ached from running about 2 miles yesterday, after being chased by a suspicious-looking man wearing a dark overcoat. But how was I supposed to tell my older stepsister that without looking like a freak?

I sat up groggily, swinging my stiff legs over the edge of my bed. My eyes focused on the open window, revealing a dark, overcast New York City sky. How depressing. Everyday for the past few weeks had been humid and damp, the rain never coming and the clouds never parting. It was as if the sun itself was too lazy to come out – an explanation that my psychopath History teacher insisted was as possible as any, since the Greek god Helios drove the sun chariot across the sky everyday. But is that even possible? Could a god just forget his job? I mean, that's really the only thing a sun god would do. And then, of course, there's the fact that the sun is actually a burning ball of gas, and its some-number of light years away.

I swiftly changed into a pair of skinny jeans and an Abercrombie tee, pulling on a pair of tan boots as I went. "Is breakfast ready?" I called as I thundered down the stairs, still a half-asleep, disgusting mess. My gorgeous stepsister Abigail, flaunting a flowing knee-length yellow sundress, greeted me, her golden hair perfectly curled into glossy ringlets. She was 23, only graduating from NYU last year. It was very convenient however, because that was the year my father decided to go missing.

I was a spitting image of my father in girl form – chocolate-brown hair, azure eyes, very petite – and that was enough cause for my stepsister to not like me. Not that I enjoyed her company very much, either.

"Toast is in the toaster." She replied without looking up, apparently transfixed in the text message her friend had sent her.

I grabbed a plate, almost burning myself as I took the toast out of the toaster. "Do we have jam?"

"No. Jam is very fattening."

I sighed, pouring myself a steaming mug of decaf coffee. Even though I hated decaf, my sister refused to drink or eat anything with a large amount of calories.

I had just sat down to eat when the phone started going off like crazy, making both me and my sister jump.

"I'll get it." She said, reaching for the phone about an inch away from her. We didn't get calls often, since Abigail and I both had our own cell phones.

I quietly ate my breakfast as she listened intently for some time, finally speaking after what seemed like hours. "Who the heck is this? I've tried to listen, but I haven't got a clue what you're talking about…Uh, yeah. Byron Junior High School. She's in eighth grade….What? Is that even safe? Yeah, like I'll let my sister get taken by some guy I don't even know. How stupid do you think I a – What? She never told me about a – " She turned around to glare daggers at me, and I sunk lower in my chair.

"I understand. This is important, huh? Well….that's just too bad then, because I am not going let someone take my sister away." And she slammed the phone down.

"Who was that?"

Abigail shrugged. "Probably some prank call. He said that he would pick you up at your school at the end of the school day."

I gasped, shocked. "Then why in the world would you give him my school name?"

She looked confused, as if the thought had never crossed her mind. "I dunno, but it seemed genuine at first." It was amazing just how oblivious my sister could be sometimes.

"Oh, that's just great. I'm going to get kidnapped today. Wonderful." I sighed, placing my dirty dishes in the sink.

"Well, I didn't tell him where it was."

I whipped around, my patience snapping. "It's called a GPS, genius. Global Positioning System. Now, can you get me to school before I'm late?" I huffed, grabbing my backpack and heading out the door. Abigail followed in my footsteps, rolling her eyes. I could just imagine the little gears in her brain spinning, thinking of dozens of insults to bombard me with as soon as we stepped foot into the car.

Sure enough, as soon as she turned the key, the only words that came out of her mouth had something to with my 'rudeness' and 'disrespect of my elders'. I zoned out as soon as she began. The drive to school was long and annoying, but I had started to get used to it. School was no better. Because of my dyslexia and ADHD, I didn't do well and constantly got myself into trouble. The only people that seemed to be nice to me were my guidance counselor, Mr. Birch, and my best friend, Sheridan Caswell. She had dyslexia as well.

It didn't help much that almost every year since my 10th birthday, something had to go terribly wrong that would make the school principal sue my family and expel me. What was strange though, was that the school never seemed to win the case – which I should really be happy about, I suppose. It just seemed too suspicious.

"We're here!" Abigail announced, jarring me back to reality. I hadn't even realized we had arrived.

"Bye." I called over my shoulder as I exited the car. Sheridan greeted me, her smile soft and genuine. Her features were all so delicate and fragile, it felt as if she would fall to pieces at any given moment.

"Hi, Sheridan. It's a lovely day isn't it?" I sighed, making my way into the school.

"Look at the bright side – school's almost over! About a week left. Then, we're off for the entire summer." She replied, desperately trying to cheer me up. That was another thing about Sheridan – we could be on the brink of death, and she'd still try to be super-positive.

"_ARIA __HAMPTON__ TO GUIDANCE, ARIA __HAMPTON__ TO GUIDANCE NOW PLEASE!" _

Both of us winced as our headmistress's raspy voice blasted across the loudspeaker. "Well, see you. I wonder what he wants this time…" I sighed, pushing through the throng of people until I arrived at the mahogany door labeled 'Guidance Office'.

"Hi, Mr. Birch." I waved at the guidance counselor as he swung his chair around.

"Hello, Aria. I called you here because, well, did you get a phone call this morning?" The guidance counselor was a skinny man who always wore a baseball cap. Some people in the school had already started a rumor that he accidentally glued it to his head. He didn't have a very good reputation in the school.

I crossed my arms, suspicious. "How would you know about that?"

He smiled. "So its true. Well, those were very important people and you definitely should listen to them. They are here to protect you."

I frowned. "Who's they? And what are they here to protect me from?" Mr. Birch didn't have a chance to respond though, for suddenly a loud bang emanated through the office, as if a tree had fallen down.

Then, the roof came right off. Clutching it was one of the most terrifying, large, gruesome things I had ever seen. It had the body of a snake, but instead of just one head…it had nine. Nine huge heads with incredibly sharp fangs, dripping what looked like poison.

"That." Mr. Birch pointed at the monster, and I was amazed he could act so calm. Meanwhile, I was freaking out. I screamed, running out of the guidance office and towards Sheridan. Mr. Birch didn't follow.

"We're going to die. We are going to die!" I screeched, terrified. The other students around me gave me confused glares, and I heard some of them muttering, "Freak." But Sheridan looked just as scared as I did.

"Holy cow, that is a huge snake!" She yelped. "Where's Mr. Birch?"

"Still inside. Or fighting it, or whatever!"

"We've got to help him!" She dragged me towards the office, against my will. Maybe she wanted to kill herself, but I sort of wanted to live until I was at least fifty!

"Mr. Birch!" She yelled. Surprisingly, he was playing a little flute-like instrument. As he played, vines wrapped up against the animal's legs, binding it.

"You two have got to get out of here!" He paused to take a breath, and I noticed the vines steadily growing weaker. He took off his cap, revealing…horns.

"Omigosh! Mr. Birch, you're a…a…" I screamed again, more confused and scared then I had ever felt in my entire life.

Suddenly, a hand pulled me away, back into the hallway. Another hand held Sheridan. It covered my eyes and my mouth, so I couldn't see nor scream. The next thing I knew, I was being hit on the head with what felt like a rock. And after that, everything went black.

**Please review :) The scene with the monster was a bit short, but there's going to be more on it later on.**


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